The figures were revealed in response to a parliamentary question asked by Stephen Doughty, MP for Cardiff South and Penarth.

Doughty asked: “How much has the Government spent on advertising in (a) The Times, (b) The Sunday Times, (c) The Mail on Sunday, (d) The Sun, (e) The Sun on Sunday, (f) The Huffington Post, (g) Mail Online, (h) Daily Mail, (i) The Guardian and (j) Trinity Mirror newspapers in each Department in the last six years”.

Paymaster General and Minister for the Cabinet Office Ben Gummer replied with figures for the given titles over the past financial year.

The totals are in the table below, along with Press Gazette’s circulation data:

Title

Amount

Print circ/online daily browsers

Daily Mail

£893,398

1,510,824

The Sun

£844,204

1,672,217

Times

£797,808

437,352

The Sunday Times

£759,289

781,237

Mail on Sunday

£564,559

1,315,977

Mail Online

£504,358

14,300,000

Sun on Sunday

£399,773

1,437,208

Daily Mirror/Daily Record/Sunday Mirror/The People

£339,125

1,862,961

The Guardian

£339,125

157,778

All the figures quoted appear to be for print advertising (with the exception of Mail Online).

“Carat has held the contract for UK Government media buying since January 2015. The figures that are supplied below show spend by departmental groups for the financial year 2015/16. HM Government does not hold figures for previous financial years.

“In the last Parliament, the Government saved £18.6 billion through efficiencies and reform – and we are aiming to make another £15-20 billion in efficiency savings by 2019-20.

“Since 2010, we have already reduced Government spending on communications by £1 billion.

“Government advertising supports the government’s priorities and helps deliver its programmes. Government communications helps improve the lives of people and communities in the UK, assists with the effective operation of our public services and delivers responsive and informative communications 24 hours a day.

“The advertising expenditure figures below are provided by Departmental Group, and include for each Department expenditure by Arms Length Bodies reporting to the respective Secretary of State.”